I'm a career success coach, leadership trainer, author and speaker dedicated to the advancement of women. I run a career and leadership consulting and training firm -- Ellia Communications -- that offers programs, training and resources for career growth. A former corporate VP, I'm a trained therapist and career specialist, and have worked with over 10,000 professional women and emerging leaders globally. Along with Forbes, I blog for Huffington Post, LinkedIn, and my own Ellia Communications career blog. My book Breakdown, Breakthrough: The Professional Woman's Guide to Claiming a Life of Passion, Power and Purpose, explores the 12 hidden challenges working women face today and how to overcome them. If my work interests you, please visit my website at kathycaprino.com.

Why You Resist Career Change So Fiercely

In developing my new Amazing Career Project career transformation video training program this summer, I spent a good deal of time thinking about why it’s so hard for many midlife professionals to build— and maintain — a joyful, successful and fulfilling career, and why it’s so challenging to shift out of one career into another, to a more fulfilling path.

Speaking from my own personal experience (a true breakdown/breakthrough journey), I faced several very heavy obstacles that kept me from realizing with clarity and confidence that I wanted out of my corporate marketing career, and from taking the right type of forward-moving action to get out.

My blocks were:

1) Time – I had invested so much time in building a marketing career (18 years, in fact), that it seemed ludicrous to “throw it all away.”

2) Ego – My ego told me that I had worked so hard to achieve a powerful position in the corporate hierarchy (in my last corporate position, I was a Vice President), that I didn’t want to step back and be a “beginner” again, and lose so much ground

3) Confusion – If I were to chuck this professional identity, what would I do instead? Despite years of trying to answer this question, I couldn’t figure out. Sure, I fantasized about being in the film industry or doing something exciting and glamorous – but what did I really want to do? What would I do if I won the lottery? I just couldn’t uncover a new path that made sense to me.

4) Money – I earned a lot, and believed I needed every cent of that to provide myself and my family the living we needed and wanted.

5) Going against the pack – There were a good number of people in my life whom I feared would be unhappy (or worse) if I made a big shift out of my lucrative career. (I realize now that most people in our lives want us to do the safe, reasonable and secure thing. They don’t want us to suffer, or to lose everything. So they tell us – strongly and loudly – to play it safe.)

6) The unknown – finally, I didn’t want to change because I desperately wanted what I had created to work out for me, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Truthfully, I was scared to death to leap into the unknown.

Now, ten years into my career reinvention, I see things very differently. I can say that none of the reasons above are sufficient to keep you stuck in a career you hate. But the only way to move forward is to loosen the vice-like grip these fears have on your life, your soul, your mind, and your body. Only then can you find the courage and energy to begin to change your career, and change your life.

One way to loosen the grip these fears have on you is to reframe the way you look at the blocks that keep you stuck:

TIME:

Every minute you DON’T make the changes you long for, is a minute you spend holding yourself back from the growth and expansion that you know – deep down – that you need and want. And after revising your career to something that aligns with you more closely, you’ll find that you will use to the fullest each and every heart-felt talent and skill that you worked so hard to develop in the past.

EGO:

Outer achievements are – in the end — meaningless if they don’t resonate with your heart and soul. Don’t let your ego lead you around by the nose. If it does, you’ll find that your hard-won recognition and achievement will leave you feeling empty, sad and lost.

CONFUSION:

Yes, it’s hard to sort out the “sounds-great!” career change ideas from those that will really make you happy. It’s hard, but not impossible. Find some great coaching and mentoring help and supportive information and resources to help you to do it. It’s time to get “un-confused.” (To help you gain clarity on what you really want, take my free Career Path Self-Assessment.)

MONEY:

We all want and need money. The question is – how much do you truly need to make to be happy, fulfilled, and enjoy your life? And what is your relationship with money – is it healthy and balanced, or are you a slave to it, addicted to having “things” surround you, because in fact, you feel depleted and joyless? (Read The Energy of Money by Maria Nemeth to help you re-balance your relationship with money.)

THE PACK:

The pack mentality is a fear-based, group-think that doesn’t support innovation, individuality, and risk. So which type of person do you want to be – a pack follower, or a cutting-edge thinker and leader, who takes the reins of your own life and destiny?

THE UNKNOWN:

Here’s a fascinating truth– it’s ALL unknown, folks. If you think you’ve got it figured out, and that what you carved out for yourself is going to be constant and unchanging, please do think again. Life is change. The universe will deliver to you continual opportunities for you to experience full-on your own adaptability and resilience. So, what would you rather do – embrace your resilience and proactively find a new path now that brings you joy, or do nothing, and let life foist unwanted change on you?

If you truly want a career change, I hope you’ll begin on a path today to making it happen. Help is all around you.

I’d like to know what holds you back MOST from taking action to change and shift your career. Please share your thoughts below.

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Here are some other points to consider: Language, Psychology & a Humanistic Perspective on “Change Management”: The latest MUST-READ article for anyone involved in C.M. by Ian Brownlee. Short link: http://wp.me/p2guX2-5s

Good subject, good article. To this discussion I’d also consider including the notion of “risk,” as the unwillingness to take a risk (whether it be financial, emotional, etc.) can be a key component holding one back…

Another great article on career change. You really have been through this haven’t you. I’m glad you brought the fear (terror) factor out into the open. I can be paralysing. I will now take your quizzes and hopefully find the support I need to do this.

Thanks, Kate. I truly have been through this (and all 12 of the professional crises I’ve researched and written about in my book Breakdown Breakthrough) so I know intimately what I’m speaking of here. Having been to the brink and come back to find a new direction that I truly love gives me the fuel to want to help others. Hope you find the Career Path Self-Assessment helpful. Let me know! Happy New Year to you.